Planetary gearing



July 25, 195,()v l HJM. GEYER PLANE'rAY GEARING Filea Aug. '6, 1947 3 sheds-snee; 2

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July'zs', 1950 H'. M. GEYER PLANETARY GEARING Filed Aug. 63.1947 j INVENTO.

Ha ward M 5 #is Frromvezys enema July z5, 195o'y UNITED STAT PLANETARY GEARING Howard M. Geyer, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application August 6, 1947, Serial No. 766,532 (Cl. 'i4-786) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to back-lash adjusters and lost-motion take-ups in gearing, and particuf larly in planetary gearing, where a driven member is designed to be driven at a speed or speeds diifering from the driving speed.

One of the objects of the invention is to take up looseness commonly inherent in planetary gear trains, so that the driven member may progress through changes in torque applied to it without exhibiting roughness and angular vibration.

Another object of the invention is to provide means in planet gearing subject to change speed ratio, where the change in load transmitted from the driving member to the driven member is guarded against severe shock when a change in speed is eiected.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a mechanism to be driven at either of two speeds and embodying the instant invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in section of one form of gear support.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of an auxiliary power means indicated by the line and arrows 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a modified form of gear support, being similar to the showing of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged schematic view illustrating the features o1' the invention.

Referring particularly to the drawings, I8 indicates a support terminating a gear casing or the like, such as the nose portion of an aircraft from which extends a pair of shafts I2 and I4 for rotating a pair of propeller hubs in opposite directions, one of which hubs is shown at I6 as having an axially extending sleeve I8 splined to one of the shafts as I2 for driving connection with a source of power within the gear casing. The hub I6 is normally wound on the shaft I2 where it is secured by the conventional nut threaded upon the end of the shaft for seating of a forward cone 22. The hubs each are provided with a plurality of sockets 24 within which are journalle'd propeller blades 26 provided with iluid pressure torque umts 28 for shifting the blades in a, pitch shifting sense. The torque units comprise a piston 38 the opposite sides of which are selectively exposed to fluid pressure from fluid passages 32 and 44 within the hub through the operation of a regulator 36 drivingly mounted on the hub sleeve I8, substantially as disclosed in the patents to Blanchard et al; 2,307,101 and 2,307,102.

Also mounted on the hub sleeve I8 is a two speed fan drive unit 40 for cooling the engine located within the craft. The fan drive unit comprises a group of driven elements existing in the form of a mounting ring 42, a spider ring 44, and a spacing ringf46 surrounding the hub sleeve I8 and maintained in driven-relation with the hub by appropriate dowels 48 and 50. These driven elements are maintained in place upon the sleeve by means of a sleeve nut 52 forcing a support plate 54 of the regulator 38 against the spacing ring 46 and thence 44 and 42 against a shoulder of the hub at the juncture with the sleeved extension I8. Journalled about the mounting ring 42 there is a sleeve 56 providing a ring of helical teeth forming a sun gear 58, and an olf-set flange to which is secured a drum 62 terminating in a. peripheral ange 64 supporting fan blades 66.

.An annular plate 68 also attachedvto the drum periphery and the blades 66, such as by the screw devices 10, combines therewith to form a gear casing for enclosing the fan drive mechanism. The group of elements secured to the sleeve 56 is adapted to rotate with the group of driven elements attached to the mounting ring 42, and hence at hub speed, or is adapted to rotate at an accelerated speed through the agency of a planetary system of drive for the sun gear. and the provisions of a one way clutch I2 disposed between the ring 42 and sleeve 56.

The spider ring 44 comprises a cylindrical portion 'I4 to which is attached a radial flange 'I6 joined to a spaced ring 'I8 by appropriate abutments to make a rigid structure, and so.that spindles can be secured in the iiange 16 and receive support in the ring I8 and thereby provide firm pivotal support for the planet gear assemblies 82 which consist as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 ofa bearing sleeve 84 rotatable on the spindle and a helical toothed pinion 86 iixedly connected witha spur pinion 88, both pinions being secured on the bearing sleeve 84 and pinned together by the pin 90 lso that the elements thereof act as an integral unit. The planet gear assemblies are so proportioned with respect to the spindle and support that they are capable of limited axial movement between the flange 'I6 and the ring 18, but always in opposition to a resisting force, as will presently appear. The helical toothed pinion 86 meshes with the helical toothed sun gear 58 while the spur toothed pinion 88 meshes with a spur toothed ring gear 92 provided by a floating 3 ing84rotatablycarriedbyadrum88.thering 84 having friction faces 88 and |88 cooperable with elements |82 and |84 of the drum by which the ring 8l may be either arrested in movement lorpermittedtorotatswithrespecttothe.

with a cylindrical portion ||8\ of the ring |88 extending rearwardly to have pinned engagement at ||2 with a ring IM having lug and notch engagement with a yoke member llt having diametric arms ||l (Fig. i) engaged by notches of a bracket member |28 rigidly supported from the craft nosing Il, by the screw devices |22. Supported on the bracket |28 there is an electromagnet or other relay device |24 that selectively controls a linkage |28 for actuating a control valve within the gear housing provided by the drum members 82 and 68 for applying and withdrawing a source of fluid pressure to the chamber |28 in the support ring |88 behind the annular piston |84. so that the arresting or nmning of the ring gear Il may be selectively controlled. Inasmuch as the control of the ring gear is the subject matter o! another application S. N. 656,719, it is not to be speciilcally claimed herein. It should be understood, however, that when huid pressure is applied to the chamber |28 the piston |84 then moves axially to engage the friction face |88 and `force the ring 88 with its friction face 88 against the drum element |82. 'I'he ring gear |82 is thus arrested with respect to the drum 86, and since this drum structure is retained against rotation with the propeller assembly due to the support |86 and its engagement with the elements or members lll, lli, |20 and l0, then the ring gear 82 will stand still with respect to the shaft support I0. On the other hand, when the pressure within the chamber |28 is relieved, the friction faces are disengaged and the ring s4 backs ci! suiliciently to allow the ring gear 82 to run free within the drum 96 and with the pinion assembly 82, thus driving from housing I2 at the same speed of the hub i6 through the one-way spring clutch 12. The source of 'fluid premure for actuating the piston |04 may be in the form of a gear pump similar to that vshown at |28 of Fig. 1, and may be so mounted on the outside of drum 86, which is nonrotatable, that its impeller wheel is closely adjacent the inner wall of the member s2 so that the fluid with which the drum is charged, will, when roasiaaoo there is a tubular iitting |84 from which extends an vopen-ended tube cr scoop |18 adapted to pick up oil from the periphery of the drum 82 and deliver it to the intake of the pump, from which a delivery e |28 .connects with a tting lll supported .by the ring 1l at the end of each spindle 88, tube sections |42 extending from tting to fitting so that all of the spindles are supplied with iluid under pressure. The spindle 88 is provided with a bore I enlarged at |48 to form a piston cylinder receptive of a piston |88 and from which'chamber a lateral opening lil communicates with the inside oi the bearing sleeve 84 of the planet assembly for lubrication purposes. A number of cross passages |l2 open into the bore I and communicate with the passage in the fitting |48 so that fluid developed by the pump |82 may find its way tothe chamber |45 and the bearings of the planet assemblies. In Fig.` 2 the spindle 8|! is capable of some axial movement within the supporting apertures of the ilange 16 and the ring 18, which is accomplished by the result of fluid pressure in the chamber |48 acting against the end of piston |48 that abuts against a stop |54 secured to the flange 18. As fluid pressure is applied to the immovable piston |48 the spindle 88 moves toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2, and the inclination oi the spiral teeth on the pinion 86 and the sun gear I8 'are such that ther`e is always resistance to such axial movement due to the driving torque when the ring gear is arrested. AThat is, when the ring gear i2 is arrested by the ilxed support such as to cause the pinions to roll over the ring gear 82 they will then drive the sun gear 58 and the inclination oi' the matched helicalgear teeth will tend to move the planet assembly in the oPDOsite direction to that at which the pressure in the chamber |46 tends to move the assembly. Since the spur teeth of the pinion 88 and the ring gear 92 ofi'er no resistance to this tendency for axial r movement then the mating relation between the helical toothed members sa, si' 1s always ma1n tained in contact and all back-lash and lost motion is eliminated. As soon as the ring gear 92 is arrested for driving the pinions 88, the

pinions 8i rigidly connected thereto will also rou fthe planet assembly to the needs'f the mechatated with the drum, eect the rotation of the pump impeiler in the nature of an undershot water wheel. Since the pump is supported on a relatively iixed or nonrotatable structure, and since the drum 82 when the propeller -is rotating, is always rotating either at propeller speed or at some accelerated value, then the fluid charge of the drum is always flowing past the impeller wheel of the pump.

As shown in Fig. 2, the pinion assembly 82 is movable axially between the flange 16 and the -ring 18 by duid pressure developed bythe pump nism.

In the showing oi'. Fig. 4 the planet assembly is shiftable upon the spindle which is there rigidly xed in the ange 1G by a key |56. and a n screw device |58 engaging a washer |68 disposed against the flanged threads into an extension |82 of the fitting |I|| that projects within the bore of the spindle 80. The fitting |48 opens into a bore |64 of the extension |62 that has lateral es .l |66 communicating with the transverse bore |88 of the spindle so that the bearings for the planet assembly are well lubricated under pressure. Here, the axial movement of the planet assembly is not accomplished by the fluid pressure of the |28 of Fig. 3, which also serves as a lubrication 70 pump |30, but is obtained by means of a. dished pump to supply iluid under pressure to the bearings of the planet assemblies. This pump as shown in Fig. l is supported between the flange 1i and the ring 18 and provides a gear |32 meshspring or cupped washer |68 disposed around the spindle 80 and between thefiange 16 and the bearing sleeve 84 of the planet assembly. 'I'he dished spring normally tends to'shift the planet ing with the sun gear it. Fixed to the ring 'I8 75 assembly to the left against the urge driving torque at the helical engagement 58, 86,to shift the planet assembly to the right, the spring member yielding to the increase of driving force so as to keep the tooth engagement at all times.

In Fig. there is shown in the simplest basic form the principal features of this invention where 42 represents a rotating member providing a source of driving force and provides the flange 16 supporting the planet assemblies 82 as journalled on fixed spindles 86 carried by the ilange 16. The planet assemblies are capable of moving axially of the supporting spindles 80 and are urged in one direction by the spring |68 disposed around the spindle 80 and between the ange 'I6 and the near pinion 86 whose helical teeth match up with the helical teeth of the sun-gear 58 that is to be driven and thereby transmit its motion to the sleeve 56. The element 96 represents a stationary element providing the ring gear l92 over which the pinion 88 is engageable through its spur teeth, and which when the rotating member 42 with its planet assemblies rotate with respect to it, effect vrotation of both pinions and accelerated rotation of the sun gear 58. Considering that the driving element 42 rotates clockwise as indicated by the arrow A, then the planet assemblies 82 will revolve with the ilange 16 in a clockwise direction, and if the ring gear 92 is free to rotate within the drum 96 then the rotation of the sun-gear 58 and the ring gear 92 will be at the same speed and in the same direction as the rotation of the driving member 42 due to the one Way clutch connection 12, as is indicated by the arrow B. However, if the drum 96 clutches Aor arrests rotation of the ring gear 92 then revolution of the planet assemblies 82 will cause the pinions 88 to roll along the inside of the ring and rotate about their individual spindles 86 in the direction of the arrows C, `thereby causing an accelerated `rotation of the sun gear 58 in the direction of the arrow B. During the free running of the ring gear 92 with respect to the drum 98 there'is no driving force between thering gear 92 and the sun gear 58 so that the-spring |68 is free to move the planet assembly 82 to the extreme left as indicated by the arrow D. 'During arrested condition of the ring gear 92 or when the sun gear is being driven at an accelerated speed, the pinion 86 rotates in the direction of the arrow C to drive the suny gear 58 inthe direction B, and the resistance to drive of the sun gear is sumcient to bias the planet assembly to the right against the urge of the spring |68 which bias is provided by the inclination of the helical teeth on the elements 58, 86. As the load varies, the spring will be differently flexed, but always taking up the back-lash or lost motion in the planet gear connection.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred 0 form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows: v

1. A power transmission mechanism for driv.- ing a fan concentrically arranged about a power shaft, comprising in combination, a planet spider driven by the power shaft and providing axially movable planet spindles. a hollow annular structure journalled on the power shaft concentric withthe spider andproviding a helical sun gear..

Number AName Date 1,968,604 Hertz` July 31, 1934 2,154,532 Ryder Apr.'18, 1939v 05 2,231,784 Von Thunger ,Feb. 11, 1941 2,369,422 Williams Feb. 13, 1945 2,402,951 De Pew July 2, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 Number Country Date an arrestable ring gear concentric therewith providing spur teeth, non-rotating means supporting the ring-gear, and providing a movable friction member selectively engageable with the ring gear, an intervening gear assembly rotatable upnular `iluid containing reservoir rotatable with' the fan blades and sun gear, said pump having an intake from said rotatable reservoir, piston and cylinder means carried by the planet spider for shifting the said spindles axially with respect to said spider, and passage means connecting the outlet of said pump to said cylinder for actuatingI the piston thereof vand passage means connected with the cylinder andspindle surface for lubricating the intervening gear assembly.

2. In a fan drive, a driving assembly providing a planet spider, said spider having axially shiftable hollow spindles, doubled faced planet pinions rotatable on each spindle and providing Ya spur element drivingly connected with a helical element, a non-rotatable support assembly providing al ring gear surrounding said driving assembly and engaging said spur element, afan assembly journalled for rotation on the driving assembly and providing a helical sun gear engaging the helical element, said fan assembly providing a reservoir surrounding the support assembly to enclose a body of uid medium, a fluid pressure pum-p carried by said driving assembly and having an intake pipe ending in the reservoir adapted tov pick up fluid medium from said reservoir, passage means connecting the pump outlet to the interior of said axially shiftable spindles, a piston within said spindle and engaging the spider, and gear means connecting the pump with the sun gear, whereby the rotation of said driving assembly rotates the fan assembly through the planet pinions, and whereby the -pump is-driven to supply iluid under pressure within the shiftable spindles to yieldably restrain axial shift ofthe planets by reason of the driving torque applied through the helical sun gear, and means lto 'lubricate the planets onthe said spindles.

HOWARD M GEYER.

REFERENCES CITED Thev following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED sfra'ms PATENTS 'Germany Jan. 29, 1924 

